DOVER — With federal lawmakers poised to take action on an energy proposal that could lift the decades-long ban on offshore drilling, the Conservation Law Foundation is making a plea to the New England congressional delegation to keep the ban in place, citing the potential damage drilling could do to marine life and arguing it would do little to lower gas prices.

Locally, the CLF's efforts may embolden the Maine senatorial delegation — which has publicly opposed lifting the ban to protect Georges Bank in the Gulf of Maine — more than its New Hampshire counterpart. Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg, both Republicans, are proponents of increased offshore drilling.

Last week the Boston-based CLF, which pursued legal action that led to establishment of the drilling moratorium in 1982, sent a letter to senators and representatives urging them to consider the effects drilling would have on the Georges Bank ecosystem, the fishing economy and the aesthetic of the New England coastline. The ban prohibits oil and natural gas drilling from 3 to 200 miles offshore on the outer continental shelf.

Drilling would "jeopardize these ocean resources whose many commercial and recreational benefits are a cornerstone of the region's coastal economies," read the letter, which was signed by CLF President Phil Warburg.

It continued, "As coastal development and resource extraction have increased, so has our understanding of the degradation that we are inflicting on ocean wildlife and underwater habitat. The depletion of once-abundant cod, flounder and other fish populations and the imperiled state of many marine mammals stand as testimony to the fact that our ocean's wildlife needs more protection, not less. At a time when our fisheries resources are beginning to rebuild and marine mammal protection is beginning to receive the attention it deserves, we must not open up the ocean waters off our shores to the serious and real threats that oil drilling will bring."

"Our fisheries are much too valuable to jeopardize with oil and gas drilling," Brooks said in a telephone interview Monday.

She emphasized Georges Bank, which had about 10 exploratory wells drilled into it before the federal ban was in place. All of the wells came up dry for oil and natural gas, according to CLF Vice President Peter Shelley.

One argument pro-drilling lawmakers have voiced ever since President Bush in June called for lifting the ban is that drilling now would be a stopgap measure while long-term solutions can be explored. Brooks said extracting oil and gas from the protected area would have a negligible effect on prices, lowering them "a few cents one or two decades from now."

She added drilling would compromise marine life around Georges Bank — "one of the most productive ecosystems in the world," she said.

The government's focus should be on alternative energy sources to lessen the strain high fuel prices have caused on consumers, Brooks added.

After it reconvened on Monday following a five-week summer recess, Congress in the coming weeks could vote on an energy proposal that was introduced by a group of 10 senators. Called the New Energy Reform Act, the plan would allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and give mid-Atlantic states like Georgia and Virginia the option to allow gas and oil exploration 50 miles off their coasts.

Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, have said drilling could harm the state's fishing industry.

New Hampshire Sen. Gregg, on the other hand, said through a spokesperson Monday that drilling is a "key element to reducing our nation's dependence of foreign oil and bolstering our economy through American energy production."

Also through a spokesperson, Sen. Sununu said: "Lifting the ban on offshore production would allow the Department of the Interior to move forward with proposals for offshore leases in those areas that are geologically best suited for oil and gas exploration. In that process, Interior policy must work to conserve resources, operate safely, and take maximum steps to protect the environment. Recent experience has shown that within the Gulf of Mexico, current production techniques effectively protect even the most sensitive areas within the Gulf."